After a lot of golf I needed to put
my feet up without sacrificing
any scenery. I’d arranged a
journey on one of the great trains of the
world, the Royal Scotsman, now
operated by Orient Express, with two-to five-night excursions beginning and
ending in Edinburgh. My choice was the
three-day Western route, heading to the
outskirts of Glasgow, then north to
Mallaig.
I checked my golf clubs at a hotel and
hailed a cab to Waverley Station, smack
in the middle of town below Edinburgh
Castle. A host cheerfully welcomed me
and my bags before leading me up to
the first-class lounge to join thirty-five
other passengers waiting for boarding.
As we assembled at the station’s
ground floor, a piper took up “Scotland
the Brave” and led us to a velvet rope
before the train entrance, where our
host, Michael, assisted by several staff
members, offered glasses of
champagne as we boarded. Within
minutes the train was off and we were
cheerfully sitting inside a plush
observation car, buzzing with
anticipation. With plenty
of time before dinner, we
made our way to our
sleeping cabins: snug but
comfortable, with quite
serviceable private
showers (plenty of hot
water), surprisingly ample
closets, and a small
writing desk set in front of
a window.
The next morning the
train breezed north
through a rugged golden
valley below brilliant
early-autumn blue skies. After a perfect
breakfast, many of us retreated back to
the large-windowed observation car,
decorated with velvet sofas, teak- and
walnut-inlaid walls, and fresh-cut
flowers, to watch the lochs and streams
whiz by. By mid-afternoon the peak of
Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the
UK, came into view, and we
disembarked for an excursion to the
beach at Mallaig, with a view of the Isle
of Skye.
The following day’s journey brought
us via bus to the Isle of
Bute, just west of
Glasgow, to a tour of
Mount Stuart. This isn’t
your standard castle
walkabout: Mount Stuart
embodies a spirit of
riotous piety with odd
mixture of Byzantine
architecture, elaborate
pre-Raphaelite decor, and
old-fashioned
scholasticism. A Scottish
dance recital by colorfully-
dressed young ladies in
the cold gray family chapel downstairs
was a cheery cap to the afternoon.
No murders to speak of on this
romantic train. The only crime seemed
to be in the idea of returning to
Edinburgh on Monday morning: the
anticipation of return mixed with the
pleasure of new memories—idle hours
peering out into epic scenery, late
nights sipping single malts and trading
tall tales. Might have to be a twice-in-a-lifetime trip. For more information, visit
www.royalscotsman.com. --R.T.
As the site of 15 British
Opens, Muirfield has a
history to match its
challenge.
One of the most celebrated and difficult
courses on the British Open rota, Muirfield’s
fair ways are tough to hold even on a calm day,
much less when the wind is up. The intricate
green complexes present a breadth of challenges—downhill chips from thick rough to
88 THE MET GOLFER • JUNE/JULY 2008
speedy putting surfaces, for instance, and
treacherous escapes out of six-foot-deep
bunkers. The setting is almost spooky, thanks
to the moor-like feel of the grassy landscape
as well as the club’s fabled formality—should
you elect to play again in the afternoon (
alter-nate-shot only) after a morning round, you
change into a coat and tie for lunch, then
change back into golf clothes for your second
round. Still, you don’t see anyone complaining, nor should they.
A good match in the breeze is one of the
great pleasures of golf, and you’re apt to find
it at delightful Gullane. At first glance, the
holes look to be comprised of nothing but
blonde links woven over a hill overlooking the
sea. However, that all changes when you actually walk the fairways and play the shots, as
the subtle challenges and striking scenery
combine for an enjoyable round—or if you’re
lucky, rounds—of golf. Of the three courses
here, No. 1 is the oldest and also the hardest,
an elegant path of fairways with an unusual
scope of elevation changes.
A few miles east is Craigielaw, designed
by Donald Steel’s firm and completed in
2002. It has a regular site for Open Championship qualifying, and is an entertaining lowland links with difficult, turtle-backed greens
and ruthless pot bunkers—not superbly conditioned, but still lots of fun.
